BBCReporter Gary O’Donoghue today shares how his mother contemplated ending their lives together after he lost his sight at the age of eight.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, he reveals to a surprised audienceLauren Lavernehow, instead of feeling any resentment toward his late mother Connie, he was moved that she had shared her thoughts with him.
It helped me realize how isolated she and my father must have felt.
O’Donoghue, aged 58, serves as the BBC’s primary correspondent in North America.
His on-site coverage of the 2024 incident involving President Trump has been watched over 300 million times across social media platforms.
He lost one eye as an infant, and on the day before his eighth birthday, while playing at school, he suddenly discovered he could no longer see anything.
O’Donoghue shared with the program that he will forever be thankful to his parents, who remained determined despite significant challenges, allowing him to achieve his aspirations.
There was absolutely no assistance available back then.
My mother shared with me that at one time, when they created an artificial eye for me, the nurse struggled to insert it, so she wrapped it in a tissue and said, ‘You give it a try when you get home.’
– Today at 10am on BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs is being broadcast and can be accessed through BBC Sounds.
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